It possesses complex behavioral traits, such as the ability to adapt to a queenless nest, choose which flower to visit, and regulate its temperature to fly during cold weather.

It was at one time a common species, but has declined in numbers since the late 1990s, likely due to urban development and parasite infection.

Bombus occidentalis has been speculated to be a subspecies of B. terricola, but most experts now agree that it is its own distinct species.

[4] The yellow-banded bumble bee is black and yellowish-tan, and has a characteristic fringe of short yellow-brown hairs on its fifth abdominal segment.

[5] Bombus terricola occupies the eastern and Midwestern parts of the United States as well as southern Canada.

They are known to occupy a wide range of habitats including urban areas, meadows, grasslands, wetlands, woodlands, and farmlands.

The first phase, known as colony initiation, begins when a solitary queen starts to produce her first workers by laying diploid eggs.

This leads to further eusociality within the colony and the queen's continued efforts to produce more worker bees.

Although the flight costs energy, they expend it for future profit in finding areas abundant in resources.

One study noted that B. terricola bypass flowers that they have previously visited and only foraged a small amount of pollen from them.

[11] B. terricola have been known to forage on milkweed (Asclepia syriaca), jewelweed (Impatiens biflora), and fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium).

These bees can visit dispersed flowers within a short span of time at either high or low air temperatures.

[13] By maintaining a high thoracic temperature, B. terricola can look for new sources of food and have the advantage to fly away quickly if they are at risk for predation.

The larva, Physocephala, infects about twelve percent of the worker population of B. terricola from July to August in Ontario, Canada.

[15] Classified as a fungus, Nosema bombi is a small, unicellular parasite that is known to infect bumble bees.

[16] In the state of Illinois specifically, intensive farming and urban development have taken away the natural landscapes and habitats that these bees would normally occupy.

Like several other North American species in its subgenus Bombus, the yellow-banded bumble bee has suffered sharp declines in numbers since the mid-1990s.The Xerces Society for Insect Conservation has placed Bombus terricola on their "Red List" of endangered bees.